TROY, N.Y. — The Snowman ice cream stand opened for the start of its 66th season Saturday morning. Serving ice cream, the Collar City staple’s opening also serves as an annual benchmark that spring is coming soon.

The sunny skies and above freezing temps also helped bring out a solid contingent of people looking to grab that first tasty treat of the season.

“It’s another opening day for Snowman, I think this is their 66th year if I’m not mistaken," Troy Mayor Patrick Madden said of taking in the opening day festivities. "It’s sort of a rite of spring, kind of like the groundhog situation, it gives you hope that spring is right around the corner.

"It’s a beautiful day, great crowd. I got here about a half hour before it opened and crowds were maybe about 40-50 people here at that time. It’s nice to see this open again, it tells us we made it through another winter."

“It tastes great, just as I remember it,” Madden said while enjoying some mint chocolate chip ice cream in a cone.

Kids, of course, were also excited to eat some ice cream, including Briella Hunt, who says she likes it a lot!

“A lot and because I haven’t gotten Snowman in a long time,” Hunt said of her eager anticipation of opening day.

“I love ice cream,” added Hunt, who was eating a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough, although she says brownie is her favorite.

“I like ice cream a lot. I have root beer floats a lot too. You should definitely come here, it’s great,” Hunt said of anyone interested in the many offerings and flavors the Snowman has on its extensive menu.

The opening day tradition also brings families together, including the Brady kids. The siblings, Devin, Nathaniel, Aideen, and Quillan, grew up blocks away from the Snowman and always make it a point to reunite for the season opener.

“We love Snowman! We had to come for opening day!” Devin said, making her way through her favorite peanut butter cookie dough.

“It’s the best ice cream!,” noted Quillan.

“We grew up right on 4th Ave., we’re all dispersed now but we all come back every year for the first day, obviously throughout the season too but every year first day we’re down here bright and early, great ice cream and a great spot. We’ve got a nice sunny day out, not a cloud in the sky,” Nathaniel added of the fun annual pilgrimage.

Although his favorite for hard ice cream is also chocolate chip cookie dough, Nathaniel opted for some soft serve for the first cone of the season.

“Always have to go with the vanilla chocolate swirl with the soft ice cream for the first day, that’s the classic,” Nathaniel said of his ice cream flavor of choice.

“It makes turning the clocks forward even easier when there’s so much ice cream in your belly. Something about that Troy water just makes that ice cream taste so good,” Devin added.

The Snowman’s regular hours for the season will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.